Psalm 27
You, Lord, are the light that keeps me safe. I am not afraid of anyone.
You protect me, and I have no fears.
Brutal people may attack and try to kill me, but they will stumble.
Fierce enemies may attack, but they will fall.
Armies may surround me, but I won’t be afraid;
War may break out, but I will trust you.
I ask only one thing, Lord:
Let me live in your house every day of my life –
to see how wonderful you are and to pray in your temple.
In times of trouble, you will protect me.
You will hide me in your tent and keep me safe on top of a mighty rock.
You will let me defeat all of my enemies.
Then I will celebrate, as I enter your tent with animal sacrifices and songs of praise.
Please listen when I pray! Have pity. Answer my prayer.
My heart tells me to pray.
I am eager to see your face, so don’t hide from me.
I am your servant, and you have helped me.
Don’t turn from me in anger.
You alone keep me safe. Don’t reject or desert me.
Even if father and mother should desert me, you will take care of me.
Teach me to follow, Lord, and lead me on the right path because of my enemies.
Don’t let them do to me what they want.
People tell lies about me and make terrible threats, but I know I will live to see how kind you are.
Trust the Lord! Be brave and strong and trust the Lord!
It is difficult to imagine what this “Holy Saturday” might have been like for the original friends of Jesus. We come to this day with egg hunts and shopping for Easter clothes and preparations for family dinners because we know “the rest of the story.” We know that Easter Sunday follows Good Friday and Holy Saturday . . . we know that resurrection follows the empty tomb. We know that new life follows death and that even death cannot defeat the love of God. But those early companions of Jesus knew none of that on this day. . . they only knew that the trust they had in God had not protected their loved one from the ravages of death. . . they knew that the hope they had that the world could change had been hung on a cross. We don’t know what troubles the Psalmist faced when he wrote Psalm 27, but we do know he longed for life in the safety of God’s love much as the disciples must have on this day long ago, and that he turned to God in the midst of his fear. Those words comfort us on this day between death and resurrection . . . for that is, after all, where we live. We too live in these days that are the “already and the not yet.” Our lives are literally lived somewhere between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Jesus has already been raised from the dead, but we have not yet seen the fullness of life God has promised us. Our trust, however, comes because we have read the last page of the novel even when we haven’t completed all the chapters. We know that even on the darkest days, God does not hide God’s face from us . . . God does not ever reject or desert us . . . God’s love is the light that keeps us safe because we live on this side of the resurrection. And so our response, even in these days between death and resurrection is to trust . . . trust in the God who we know in the resurrection. Live in the strength that comes not from our own understanding, but from our confidence in the power that we trust will move the rock away from the tombs of our lives as well. Trust the Lord! Be brave and be strong in this day between death and resurrection and trust the Lord!
Dawne McAlpin
